Electrically operated marking device



United States Patent Howard Price Whitestone, New York;

Bela Szilagyi, Flushing, New York 744,544

July 1 2, 1968 Aug. 18, 1970 International Patents & Development Corp. a Corp. of Delaware by direct and mesne assignments.

lnventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MARKING DEVICE 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 101/103 Int. Cl B41j 27/02,

B41j 1/20 Field ol'Search 101/103,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,582,217 4/1926 Henry 101/3 1,940,691 12/1933 Neffet 101/327 2,014,727 9/1935 Flood 101/90 2,065,694 12/1936 Hatcher.. 101/35X 2,654,312 10/1953 Phipps 101/35 2,801,583 8/1957 Loushay 1 t 101/108 3,174,426 3/1965 Boeke1ooeta1.. 101/42 3,327,623 6/1967 Diegel 101/111X Primary Examiner William B. Penn Attorney-Sparrow and Sparrow ABSTRACT: Marking device with settable characters electrically operated for stamping preset characters on the articles to be marked. A switch for operating the device is actuated upon placing the marking device on the article to be marked.

Patented Aug. 18, 1970 I of 2 Sheet xrra /vzrj ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MARKING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to marking devices, particularly belonging to the class of rubber stamps with adjustable or settable characters. Rubber stamps with a plurality of characters which may be set in a certain combination, also having their own fixed ink pad, are known. These stamping devices are hand-operated, and are of substantial size, so that it is a tiring job to use them over an extended time period, for example in a supermarket, where a large number of articles has to be daily numbered and price-marked. This invention overcomes this inconvenience and provides novel improvements over the existing art.

SUMMARY The invention consists in such novel features, construction arrangements, combinations of parts and improvements as may be shown and described in connection with the device herein disclosed by way of examples only and as illustrative of preferred embodiments. The basic concept of the invention resides in the provision of a novel electrically operated marking device which operates rapidly and precisely with a consistently equal stamping power without any greater effort of the operator than to put the device down onto the article to be marked, after setting the characters on the device. Means are provided to bring the carriage carrying the characters to the stamping position and holding it there to permit the characters to be set. To further facilitate the setting of the characters a mirror is slidably arranged to be positioned in front of the characters to be reset permitting direct reading thereof. An

inking pad automatically positions itself in front of the carriage and is moved away thereby during the stamping operation. An ink fountain is provided to replenish the ink pad. Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereafter and in part will be obvious herefrom or may be learned by practicing the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

it is an object of the present invention to provide a practical, efficient and novel electrically operated marking device in which the characters can be easily and conveniently adjusted.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrically operated marking device in which the stamping member is in a protected position within the housing of the device when it is in the inoperative position.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide the said marker with combined electrical and mechanical means for performing the actual stamping operation. The electrical means may be battery operated without any substantial drain on the battery.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a power-operated marking device which is actuated by a microswitch upon lightly touching the device to the article to be marked.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means to bring the characters forward to facilitate the setting thereof and to provide a slidable mirror to further facilitate the setting thereof.

Furthermore it is an object of the present invention to provide a marking device which is easy to operate and which can be economically manufactured.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which forms part of this specification and illustrate merely by way of examples embodiments of the device of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following description and in the claims; parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures ofthe drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of the marker according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the marker;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carrier and the mechanism for the operation thereof;

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 3 with the carrier of the marker in retracted non-marking position;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 of the carrier and mechanism in the forward marking position;

FIG. 6 is a transverse section of the device taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 2', and

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram embodied in the marker.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in more detail to the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment by which the invention may be realized, there is disclosed a marking device 100 which has a housing 101 which is extended on one end to form a handle 102. A slidable carriage or carrier 103 is arranged in housing 101, which has a plurality of endless elastic bands 105 in juxtaposed position. Bands 105 carry characters 104 which are made of suitable material such as rubber and are reversed so that they may print positive characters on the articles to be marked. Post 106 and shaft 107 extend laterally into tracks 108 in housing 101 to guide carriage or carrier 103 in a straight line.

Shaft 107 carries knurled wheels 109 which are parallelly arranged in spaced relation, each wheel having a hub 110 over which a band 105 is trained in conventional manner, the said bands being further trained over a bar 111. A saddle 112 is mounted on shaft 107. Saddle 112 has a centrally disposed bar extension 113. Bar 111 is transversely arranged and supported by lateral arms 114, the latter being mounted on shaft 107. An arm 115 is fixed to a shaft 116, said arm 115 being rotatably connected to bar extension 113 by means of pin 117. Fixed to shaft 116 is a worm gear 118 which is driven by a worm 119 mounted on shaft 120 of motor 121. Motor 121 is operated by a preferably rechargeable battery 128. Also fixed to shaft 116 is a lever arm 122 to which is attached one end of helical spring 123, the other end of which is anchored to a fixed support. Fixed to shaft 116 is a ratchet wheel 124. Meshing with ratchet wheel 124 and fixed to worm gear 118 is a pawl 125. Thus, it can be seen that rotation of motor 121, shaft 120 and worm 119 will rotate worm gear 118, thereby rotating shaft 116. As shaft 116 rotates lever 122 rotates therewith expanding spring 123. At the same time arm I15 rotates translating a reciprocal motion to bar extension 113 and thus carriage 103, pulling the latter to its retracted position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. At this point, motor 121 is stopped by microswitch .126. Microswitch 126 is normally closed. It is opened by rod 127 which causes the motor to be disconnected from battery 128. Rod 127 is actuated by cam 129 which is fixed to shaft116. The high point 129' of cam I29 pushes rod 127 against contact button 126' of microswitch 126 causing the normally closed switch 126 to open, interrupting the current flowing from battery 128 to motor 121, thus stopping the motor. At this point shaft 116 is under tension of spring 123. Ratchet 124 and pawl prevent the shaft 116 from rotating counterclockwise under the tension of spring 123. The device is now set for operation.

The front end 130 of housing 101 is open and is surrounded by a frame 131. A second microswitch 132 is located in one corner of frame 131. An angled arm 133 is positioned in front of microswitch 132 in such manner that the end portion 134 thereof protrudes beyond frame 131. Arm 133 is pivoted in front of microswitch 132 so that a slight pressure on end 134 will cause arm 133 to depress the contact button 135 on microswitch 132. Arm 133 is held in place by spring 136.

An ink pad 137 is pivotally mounted by arm 138 on shaft 139 extending through housing 101. A'lever arm 140 having a slotted end 141 is attached to arm 138 by shaft 142. Shaft 106 engages slotted end 141 so that ink pad 137 is swung out ofthe way when carrier or carriage 103 is moved downward for printing indicia or characters 104. An ink cartridge 143 held by clip 144 and preferably made of flexible plastic is replaceably located on one side of housing 101. A syringe-like hollow needle 145 is pushed into cartridge 143, whereas the other end of needle 145 is attached to one end of a flexible tube 146. The other end of tube 146 extends into ink pad 137. A button 147 extends through housing 101 by means of bent rod 147' and abuts cartridge 143. When button 147 is depressed a quantity of marking ink is squeezed out into pad 137 from ink cartridge 143.

Each one of bands 105 is operated by a knurled wheel 109 which protrudes through suitable slots 148 in housing 101. Wheels 109 are preferably arranged so that they do not protrude above the top plane of housing 101 to prevent accidental movement thereof. In order to facilitate setting of characters 104 to be used for stamping, a mirror 150 is slidably arranged to be positioned at such an angle in front of housing 101 so that characters 104 may be viewed through the mirror by the person setting them. For this purpose. mirror 150 is connected to a flexible band 151 which is slidably attached to the bottom of housing 101. A button 152 is attached to band 151 and protrudes through slot 153 in housing 101. By sliding button 152 forwards and backwards, mirror 150 may be likewise moved.

OPERATION The operation of the marking device is as follows:

For selecting characters 104, lever 131 which is attached to rod 127 is moved transversely to the right through slot 149 in casing 101 by the operator. This disengages rod 127 from cam 129 permitting the closing of microswitch 126, and energizing motor 121. Worm gear 118 is thus rotated which in turn rotates shaft 116. Lever arm 122 thus moves clockwise over dead center with relation to spring 123, permitting the latter to contract. This hastens rotation of shaft 116 which in turn, through arm 115 and extension 113, imparts a positive movement or kick" to carriage 103. Since rod 127 has been previously moved transversely it is now in position to engage cam 130 which is located on shaft 116. Cam 130 has its high point 180 displaced from high point 129of cam 129. Thus, after the movement of carriage 103 to its furthest protracted position, cam 130 rotates thus engaging rod 127 which in turn opens microswitch 126, de-energizing motor 121. Carriage 103 is now in such a position that characters 104 are brought to the front of housing 101. To facilitate viewing the said characters for selecting the desired characters to be printed, button 152 is moved forward which positions mirror 150 so that characters may be seen therein in positive image. The characters to be marked on an article are set by moving wheels 109 so that the desired characters are placed in printing position. Mirror 150 is then moved back out of the way. Lever 131 is transversely moved back to its previous position. This disengages rod 127 from cam 130 which closes microswitch 126. energizing motor 121. This causes rotation ofshaft 106 which, through arm 115 and extension 113, retracts carriage 103. Lever arm 122 is also rotated which puts spring 123 under tension. The device is now set for marking.

By positioning marker 100 on the article A to be marked. a slight downward pressure will cause rod 133 to close microswitch 132, thus energizing motor 121. Worm gear 118 is thus rotated which in turn rotates shaft 116. Lever arm 122 thus moves clockwise over dead center with relation to spring 123 permitting the latter to contract. This hastens rotation of shaft 116 which in turn, through arm 115 and extension 113 imparts a positive movement or kick to carriage 103. Rod 127 is now disengaged from cam 129, permitting microswitch 126 to close. Thus, since microswitches 126 and 132 are in parallel, although the device is removed front the article after stamping, opening microswitch 132, microswitch 126 now is LII in closed position, energizing motor 121. This causes continued rotation of shaft 106 which, through arm and extension 113, retracts carriage 103. Lever arm 122 is also rotated which puts spring 123 under tension. The device is now reset for repeat marking of the same characters.

It is understood that a battery 128 may be recharged by conventional means.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to certain preferred examples which give satisfactory results, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the principle of the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and it is intended therefore in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications.

We claim:

1. An electrically operated marker comprising a housing having an opening at one end; guide means longitudinally disposed in said housing; a carrier longitudinally movable on said guide means in said housing; a plurality of bands adjustably disposed on said carrier in side-by-side relationship, said bands carrying indicia for printing; electrical rotary motor means in said housing; mechanical linkage means connecting the shaft of said electrical rotary motor means with said carrier, said electrical rotary motor means being connectable to an electric source of power; switch means connected to said source of power and to said motor means for controlling the operation of said electrical rotary motor means; switch actuating means adjacent said opening in said housing for actuating said switch means; mechanical motion transmitting means coupled to the shaft of said motor means for moving said carrier from a retracted inoperative position to an operative printing position upon contact of said switch actuating means with a surface to be printed, whereby said motor means when energized through said switch means moves said carrier to a forward printing position from said retracted position within said housing through said mechanical means; second switch means actuated by said mechanical motion transmitting means and connected to said source of power and said motor means for returning said carrier to said retracted position after having been moved to said forward printing position through actuation of said first switch means, by said switch actuating means, said mechanical motion transmitting means including spring means fixed at one end, lever means connected to the other end of said spring means for tensioning said spring means when said carrier is in retracted position, gear means rotated through the shaft of said motor means for positioning said lever means in relation to said carrier, ratchet means linked to said carrier, pawl means connected to said gear to be driven thereby and in driving relationship to said ratchet, said pawl being rotated by said motor means through said gear means and engaging said ratchet for driving said ratchet and thereby moving said carrier into retracted position and simultaneously tensioning said spring, said pawl holding said ratchet and said carrier in retracted position when said motor means is disconnected from said source of power by said second switch means, said ratchet becoming released from said pawl through further rotation of said motor means after being connected to said source of power by said first switch means, whereby said carrier is driven into forward position by said tensioned spring upon release ofsaid ratchet from said pawl.

2. An electrically operated marker as defined in Claim 1 including indicia selecting means mounted on said carrier for moving said bands relative to said carrier to select indicia for printing and control means linking mechanically said mechanical motion transmitting means with said second switch means and having two selectable positions, said second switch means disconnecting said motor means from said source of power when said carrier is in retracted position for one position ofsaid selecting means, said second switch means disconnecting said motor means from said source of power when said carrier is in forward position for the other position of said control means, said control means being set to said other position to bring said carrier from said retracted position to a position at the front of said housing whereby certain of said indicia may be changed, said control means being set to said one position for returning said carrier to its said retracted position.

3. An electrically operated marker comprising a housing having an opening at one end; guide means longitudinally disposed in said housing; a carrier longitudinally movable on said guide means in said housing; a plurality of bands adjustably disposed on said carrier in side-by-side relationship, said bands carrying indicia for printing; electrical rotary motor means in said housing; mechanical linkage means connecting the shaft of said electrical rotary motor means with said carrier, said electrical rotary motor means being connectable toan electric source of power; switch means connected to said source of power and to said motor means for controlling the operation of said electrical rotary means; switch actuating means adjacent said opening in said housing for actuating said switch means; mechanical motion transmitting means coupled to the shaft of said motor means for moving said carrier from a retracted inoperative position to an operative printing position upon contact of said switch actuating means with a surface to be printed whereby said motor means when energized through said switch means moves said carrier to a forward printing position from said retracted position within said housing through said machanical means; second switch means actuated by said mechanical motion transmitting means and connectable to said source of power and said motor means for returning said carrier to said retracted position after having been moved to said forward printing position through actuation of said first switch means by said switch actuatingmeans. said mechanical motion transmitting meansiincluding force means for applying surging driving motion to 'said carrier-when moving from said retracted position to said forward printing position, said force means being actuated by said motor means through said mechanical motion transmitting means when said carrier moves from said forward position to said retracted position, said force means being released from actuation by said motor means when moving from retracted position into forward printing position whereby said force means applies upon release a force to said carrier for moving said carrier with surging motion into forward position.

4. The electrically operated marker as defined in Claim 3 wherein said force means comprises a spring member tensioned during motion of said carrier from forward into retracted position, said tensioned spring member being released during motion of said carrier from retracted position to forward position, whereby said tensioned spring member applies upon release a variable force to said carrier and moves said carrier surgingly into forward printing position.

5. The electrically operated marker, as defined in Claim 4 including drive and release means linked to said spring member and said motor means for driving said carrier to said retracted position and simultaneously tensioning said spring, said drive and release means releasing said carrier and said spring for moving said carrier into forward position through the force ofsaid spring. 

